DIE FLEDERMAUS
by T.E. Klunzinger
MSU Opera Theatre’s Melanie Helton has given us a thoroughly delightful production of “Die Fledermaus” which is as lively, colorful and fun as any other musical you’re likely to see this season. And let’s be clear about this: it’s an operetta, not a “grand” opera, the difference being that there are spoken passages as in “Oklahoma!,” for example, with everything in English including the surtitles.
This means that the singers must be good actors as well, and they are, but it’s difficult to give particular praise simply because the four performances are, as always, mostly double-cast (A-B- A-B) except for William Johnson who has now sung two successive nights as Alfredo due to the sudden illness of the other guy, Nicholas Hudak.
It must be realized that with the first production of this now-classic by Johann Strauss II (“the Waltz King”) being nearly 150 years ago, doing this show is sort of like doing Shakespeare: you start with the music and if you’re any good, you bring it to life through the staging.
As Ms. Helton is quite good, particularly with the party that is Act Two which starts with the (rented) costumes getting their own applause. Since the theme of Prince Orlofsky’s party is “chacun a son gout,” (“to each his own taste”) it has become traditional to throw pretty much anything into it; here we get a couple of Victor Herbert songs including “Prima Donna” which predates the Lloyd Webber version by about 75 years. Then in Act Three we get snatches from “Les Miz” and “Psycho”(!) and a duet from “La Boheme.”
This kind of show was really the “musical comedy” of its day, with a typically flimsy plot on which to hang the memorable Strauss music in three-quarter time; this production fully plays everything for fun, with the audience being totally in on the joke(s). The cast of 27 works very well with the 45-piece MSU Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hal France.
Technical credits are a tad murky, but I should note the simple settings are strongly complemented by the flexible mood lighting and the projections such as Orlovsky’s ballroom.
“Die Fledermaus” has only two shows remaining at Fairchild Theatre, Saturday at 7 pm and Sunday at 3 pm, with a brief lecture 45 minutes before each performance. See it if you can!
https://www.music.msu.edu/event-listing/johann-strauss-ii-die-fledermaus